The Hindu : New Delhi News : Appeal to increase hostel seats for girls in DU

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007
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New Delhi

Appeal to increase hostel seats for girls in DU

Staff Reporter

Campaign to make the campus a safer place for women

‘Sexual harassment of girls on the campus is directly linked to lack of accommodation’
‘Studying in DU is a matter of great hardship and anxiety for outstation girl students’

NEW DELHI: A delegation called on St. Stephen’s College principal Valson Thampu this past week, demanding equal distribution of hostel seats between boys and girls in the college.

The delegation consisted of former college president Maya John and other members of Campaign, an initiative of students and teachers of Delhi University that has been struggling to make the campus a safer place for women. Said Campaign convenor Vidhya Raveendranathan: “It is our belief that sexual harassment of girls on the campus is directly linked to lack of resources provided by the University administration for accommodation of girl students.”

Currently St. Stephen’s College has four hostels for boys and two for girls, compelling a large number of girl students to live in “unsafe and expensive paying guest accommodations every year”.

According to Campaign, studying in Delhi University is a matter of great hardship and anxiety for outstation girl students.

Said Ms. Raveendranathan: “In the absence of hostels, these girls have to face all sorts of difficulties like arbitrary rents, hikes, sudden eviction, invasion of privacy and often verbal, physical and sexual abuse.”

Equal distribution

“The solution is to equally distribute the existing hostel seats in the college between boys and girls through a gradual phase out process whereby a lower intake of first year boy students into the hostel can be used to empty a hostel block for girls,” said Maya John. According to the delegation, the college principal reacted positively to the demands and concerns put forward by it and assured the students that the proposal for conversion of an existing boys’ hostel would be presented by him in the Governing Body and the Supreme Council meetings so as to provide girl students with a third hostel by the next academic year.

Unique project

At present Campaign is networking with all the main colleges of the North Campus and building up their struggle for more hostels for girl in the University.

For girls already living in paying guest accommodation, Campaign is carrying out a unique project of forming area-wise committees of girl students living in private colonies in order to redress their complaints against sexual harassment. These include colonies like Vijay Nagar, Civil Lines and Hudson Lines.

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